Projects

Peace Networks

Peace & Harmony Network (PHNP)

The core message of the network is coexisting in harmony with each other with the ability to understand that all religions teach peace and tolerance. It aims at bringing inter and intra faith peace and harmony amongst different faiths within the Muslim community as well as outside it, to harmonize their living and co-existence.

Peace and Harmony Network has been setup by FACES Pakistan in 2011 with the endorsement of Akram Gill, the National Harmony Minister. Now the project has been taken up by the Provincial Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Affairs, Government of Punjab, Mr. Khalil Tahir Sandhu. The purpose of the network is to bring together religious leaders from different faiths and provide them with a platform to discuss different issues. At the moment the network consists of representatives of Hindu, Christian, Sikh and Baha’I religions.

The approach used in this project is holistic, participative, consensual and national with cascading effect to the grass root level in districts etc. It recognizes the importance of support of the like-minded organizations, media and youth as catalyst for peace. It has been developed on the theme of mutual respect, tolerance and finding common grounds to work upon. This is an effort to take the communities away from conflict and towards conflict resolution and positive peace.

SANJHA Pakistan - A Coalition for Equal Citizenship

FACES Pakistan developed SANJHA Pakistan, an independent coalition of civil society organizations dedicated towards working for Equal Citizenship for religious minorities in Pakistan. It is a platform for religious minorities in Pakistan to share the issues, grievances and highlight the socio-political challenges faced by them while also serving as a forum to raise collective voices for their rights.

Minorities in Pakistan have played a vital role in the development of Pakistan. Many minorities based organizations like Caritas Pakistan, Church World Service, Catholic Relief Services etc. have been serving Pakistan from many decades. Unfortunately, minorities have been largely ignored within the political mainstream in the country. SANJHA Pakistan serves as a platform for religious minorities in Pakistan to share the issues, grievances and highlight the socio-political challenges faced by them while also serving as a forum to raise collective voices for their rights.

To achieve this mission, SANJHA Pakistan is building the capacity of its member organizations, civil society organizations and public to engage with legislators, political leadership, and religious heads, private and public institutions. It also plans to develop position papers, systems, programmes and mechanisms for protection of religious minorities and victims of religious-based violence and trained local human rights defenders belongs to religious minorities in terms of their responsiveness to address human rights violations. Moreover, SANJHA Pakistan is advocating for the rights and protections of the religious minorities with all key stakeholders at all levels and engage with media for broader dissemination of the concept of equal citizenship.

Interfaith Advisory Commission

The commission was developed to work on providing dignity to all religions and give recommendations to the government to deal with religion based terrorism and discrimination especially related to blasphemy. Provincial Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Affairs, Government of the Punjab acknowledged the work of Interfaith Advisory Commission and agreed to accept the reports submitted by the commission. Steps are being taken to issue a notification regarding this decision.

In 2017 FACES Pakistan organized an Interfaith and Interreligious session with the religious leaders. The meeting was headed by Maulana Abdul Wahab Ropri who shared that Pakistan is not only for one faith or religion but for all its citizens. During the session religious leaders agreed to formulate a commission named Interfaith Advisory Commission. During the definition of the agenda and plan of action for the Interfaith Advisory Commission it was finalized that blasphemy cases related to 295 A, B & C in Punjab will be handled by the commission. The commission will compile an independent report on the cases and will submit it to the Ministry of Human Rights and Minorities Affairs, Government of the Punjab.

A tragic incident related to blasphemy occurred in Chiniot District. A team of the commission visited the district and met DPO Chiniot to discuss and obtain the details of the incident. The commission compiled a report and submitted it to the Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Affairs, Government of the Punjab. Members of the commission attended 200th anniversary celebrations of BahaUllah, the founder of Baha’I faith. The commission shared their efforts for interfaith harmony and religious tolerance and met MNA Mrs. Asiya Nasir who is also a member of National Commission for Minorities. The commission has also established Regional Offices in Chiniot, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Kasur & Gujranwala. On behalf of commission Minister Khalil Tahir Sandhu, Minister Human Rights and Minorities Affairs, Government of the Punjab met the family of Ashfaq Masih (Ashfaq Masih has been arrested on charges of blasphemy in Lahore).

Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.